Diaper washboard



March 22, 1955 L. B. PETTIT DIAPER wAsHBoARD Filed Deo. 22, 1952 IN VEN TOR. 0a/f B. Parr/r United States Patent O DIAPER WASHBOARD Louis B. Pettit, Madison, Conn.

Application December 22, 1952, Serial No. 327,340

2 Claims. (Cl. 68229) This invention relates broadly to washboards and more specifically to an improved laundry appliance for washing infants diapers.

The primary object of the invention resides in the provision of a washboard adapted for use in the bowl of a water closet, the so-called board being formed as a unitary structure from rubber or a similar exible material and being designed for the self-sustained support thereof.

In detail, the plate constituting the washboard cornprises a rigid narrow end portion adapted for reentrant engagement in the discharge duct of the toilet bowl, a widened upper portion defining shoulders to delimit downward movement of the plate, and transverse ribs on the face of the upper portion of the plate tapering from side walls thereof to the center to facilitate llexure of the top central portion of the washboard to the contour of the forward upper edge of the bowl.

Further objects of the invention reside in the provision of an appliance which is light in weight, durable of struc ture, economic of manufacture, and capable of being cleansed with ease and dispatch.

Other objects and advantages more or less ancillary to the foregoing, and the manner in which all the various objects are realized will appear in the following description, which, considered in connection with the accom panying drawings, sets forth the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a water closet of conventional form showing the improved washboard mounted therein;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the washboard;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the plate A is formed from a non-metallic exible material, such as rubber, of a durometer which will allow the thin central portion 10 of the plate to conform to the contour of the forward end of the toilet bowl 11, yet facilitate the support of the reinforced narrow channel portion 12 in self-sustained lineal relation within the discharge duct 13 of the bowl. The width of the body of the plate is somewhat smaller than the minor axial dimension of a water closet bowl of conventional form, and the length of the plate, taken from the top to the shoulder 15, is slightly greater than the lineal measurement from the center of the duct 13 to the center of the top forward edge of the bowl. The tab or channel 12 is designed to protrude mto the discharge duct to the approximate center thereof, the reinforced Patented Mar. 22, 1955 ice shoulders 15 and side walls of the upper portion of the body supporting the plate against tiexure throughout its length when the appliance is placed in operative position within the bowl. The side walls of the plate are provided with vertically disposed ribs or beads 16 which are tapered from the lower end of the tab to the upper end of the plate, the beads along the edges of the tab and shouldered portion of the plate being of a requisite height to form a body of channeled transverse section. The upper face of the plate is provided with spaced ribs 17 tapered inwardly from the beads 16 to the center of the plate, the ribs being preferably interrupted with longitudinally aligned grooves intermediate their ends to facilitate deformation of the plate and provide drainage channels 18.

The top of the plate is formed with an opening 19 in the center thereof for holding the appliance while in use and supporting the plate in a suspended position.

In use, the plate is placed in the bowl of a water closet with the top thereof resting on the forward edge of the top of the bowl and the channeled tab 15 inserted in the discharge duct 13. In this position the top of the plate will bend to the contour of the rim of the bowl but the heavier lower end thereof and the channeled tab will remain straight and rigid. A soiled diaper may next be placed upon the plate and agitated vertically over the ribs while the toilet is being flushed. This operation may be repeated several times if necessary to assure thorough cleansing of the garment.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, itis to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. A washboard for use when positioned in a water closet comprising a pliable plastic plate, beads along the side edges thereof, a narrow tab centrally located on one end thereof, transversely disposed ribs in the portion of the plate above the tab, said ribs being higher adjacent the beads than in the center of the plate and having grooves therein to facilitate deformation of the upper portion of the plate.

2. A washboard comprising a plate of deformable plastic material, a -narrow tab centrally located on the lower end of said plate, beaded side walls thereon and cross ribs on the face of the plate above said tab, said ribs being higher at the edges of the plate than at the center thereof to facilitate exure of the body of the plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 6,673 Todd Oct. 5, 1875 D. 111,348 Irwin Sept. 20, 1938 D. 138,453 Loomis Aug. 8, 1944 48,811 Hartt July 18, 1865 690,930 Collmann Jan. 14, 1902 1,506,169 Petters Aug. 26, 1924 1,559,262 Kummermehr Oct. 27, 1925 2,271,512 Griths Feb. 3, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 444,731 France Aug. 14, 1912 69,368 Netherlands Ian. 15, 1952 

